Morning Light
by Cait Beepo
Summary: Dorothy Wayneright is a social butterfly. Roger Smith is not. What brings these two characters together? Cats, friends, music, and an inane love of black. AU Crossover - Ending Added! '09
1. Waking Up Is Hard To Do

Morning Light

By Cait The Bloody Rose

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. The brilliant people at Sunrise do. I hope they don't smite me. I'm fragile.

A/N: These characters are all from different anime. Be aware that if you don't like Big O, Cowboy Bebop, or Inuyasha that you should not, by all means, read this.

Summary: Dorothy Wayneright is a social butterfly. Roger Smith is not. What brings these two characters together? Cats, friends, and an inane love of black. R&R! *begs*

Mr.Ton-Ton: Stupid girl…

~

Dorothy Wayneright sat at the piano, staring at each ebony and ivory key she 

encountered, glaring at it as if it was some sort of deformed child. She didn't feel like playing this morning. Out of character in her constant pursuit of musical enlightenment, but she felt like a change of pace. Not a thought popped into her head why exactly, but it could've been the fact she hadn't had the thing tuned very recently. She walked to the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee for herself. She glanced out the window seeing the orange light lacing the horizon. The orange sun glared through the blinds, flooding the room with it's soft glow_._ Wait, that was what was happening? She was always like this in the morning - not as perceptive as she would've liked. It was strange how that sort of thing crept into a mind such as hers. Maybe it was the fact that she was a hyperactive college student with a brilliant mind bubbling over with tons of insane & inane ideas. Yeah, that could be the reason. She flipped the switch on the radio, the "gentle" sound, as she put it, of loud punk rock pounding into the room. Getting into the groove, she bounced around the kitchen. Unnoticed by her, the coffee was spilling over the side of her glass and landing in small splashes of light brown on the tiled floor beneath her. Seeing his chance to get his daily dose of caffeine, Dorothy's cat, Pero, clambered into the room, lapping the coffee from the floor, and soon bouncing around with her, much to Dorothy's amusement. 

'_I should start drinking Decaffe_' she thought, retreating to her room. She glanced into the mirror as she passed it, stopping to gaze at it for a moment. Dorothy's skin was snowy pale and her eyes were a creamy milk chocolate. She raked her hand through her orangish, brown locks, seeing them bounce, hovering over her shoulders. She picked up the long, black skirt from her bed, removing her pajamas and pulling it up her hips, adjusting them slightly so they weren't too tight or too loose. She next pulled on the button-up red shirt she had picked out the night before, the symbol Suicide Machines patched on the back. She glanced in the mirror again. Today was the first day of term. Better make "a good impression" on the first day, being the sophomore that she was. She grabbed her little, black backpack (A/N: STROKE 9 JOKE! HA!) and walked outside of her house, locking poor, little Pero inside. Hearing his pitiful little meows as she walked out the door, she resolved to make a quick stop by Starbucks on the way home and pick up a Caramel Swirl Frappachino just for him. She skipped down the small staircaselost in thought when she suddenly, tripped, almost falling flat on the concrete pavement. Luckily, she had quick reflexes. Whoever made Soul Calibur II was a complete GENIUS. Cursing herself for her clumsiness, Dorothy continued more CAREFULLY down the stairs.****

Roger Smith pulled himself out of his semi-permanent fetal position as he slowly awoke, shaking his head from side to side. His alarm had gone off. Loud and annoying-just how it was created.

'_One day they'll invent a NICE alarm that'll inform the owner POLITELY that it was time to get up. Yea right. That'll be the day_.' he thought. Rubbing his groggy eyes, Roger reached over and turned off his blaring alarm. He flopped out over one side of the bed, literally dragging the rest of his body off and landed with a soft thud on the carpeted floor. Pulling himself into a standing position, he pulled on a pair of baggy blue jeans and white T-shirt. (A/N: STOP DROOLING!). Roger walked out of his dorm and down the hall for a morning cup of coffee to possibly remove the loud ringing that held in his ears. He had just gotten accepted into this school last month. Lucky him. Paradigm College. It was a small, private college in the middle of nowhere. Nobody knew where this small city resided or originated from. Only those who applied knew anything about this sleepy hollow. It was affectionately nicknamed as The City Of Amnesia because it was forgotten. Roger turned another corner, entering the small kitchen that the students shared. He reached the coffee machine, grabbed a styrofoam cup and was just about to pour a cup for himself when a huge line appeared before him.

'_Just my luck..._' he thought before walking away. While walking through the hall, a sound came to his ears. Someone singing quietly? No. Humming? It seemed to consume him in a sense, shutting out every other sound driving him wild. For a hum, it was still a pretty tune. He thought it was a song he'd heard before. Seasons. By Good Charlotte. Then**,** the humming came to a halt, andan even sweeter sound than before started flowing through the halls.

"_Summer air reminds me of all the seasons of your love and what it was like,_" the soft, femininevoice paused, then began again. Almost recounting its steps. "_When we were together, huh._" The voice turned into a hum again and it slowly faded away. That didn't happen everyday. Suddenly, there was a scream from farther down the hall. That CERTAINLY didn't happen everyday. He didn't pause to think about where his feet were taking him before he raced down the hall, coming to skidding and arm-flapping halt at the end of the hall. He saw a pretty girl sliding to the ground in tears, obviously upset about something. He walked a little closer to see a lanky man with fizzy, cerulean blue hair leaning over her.

"THAT WAS MY FAVORITE JEWEL CASE, SPIKE!" the girl screeched. Roger winced at the sound. 

"Dorothy! It's just a jewel case!" Spike said soothingly, backing up and rubbing the back of his head. The girl named Dorothy stood up, cradling the broken CD case in her hands like a baby. She glared daggers at him and spun on her heel. Seeing Roger, her eyes widened and she blushed an unbelievable shade of scarlet.

"I'm sorry, sir, did we disturb you? I beg your pardon! It certainly wasn't my fault at all!" Dorothy said, walking over to Roger and smiling innocently before running off, her backpack bouncing behind her. Stunned, Roger stared at her retreating back. It wasn't everyday that anyone even talked to him. This would be an interesting term.

~

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Thanks to Fire for beta-ing!


	2. Introductions Of Doom

Morning Light

By Cait The Bloody Rose

Chapter Two – Introductions Of Doom

A/N: This is the next chapter. I usually don't get 6 reviews the first chapter. New world. Ah.

lilblossom82: Thanks for the differentiation! *smile smile*

Sakura Scout: DON'T KILL ME! HERE'S UPDATE! *hides in bomb shelter*

Lynderia: Thank you for liking my story!

WW1: Don't like the excitement overwhelm you and eat your brain! La dee dum…

Critara's Pride: It IS Big O. It's more Big O than anything else… You'll find out about pairing soon… Mwahahahahaha!

Rocker Baby1: Don't hurt me! O_o

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After running into that student in the hall, Dorothy felt like cramming herself into a deep, dank hole in the wall. She felt a little guilty, but once she found Sango and Ed, it would all be good. Right? 

"Hey guys!" she yelled, running to catch up with them in the hallway. Sango spun around just in time to be thrown back at the impact of her friend's hug. 

'I should've gotten used to this by now...' Sango thought, attempting to stand up. Dorothy smiled at Ed, who then tackled her. Sango smiled at her two friends now giggling like idiots of the ground. Dorothy and Ed stood up together, still smiling. 

"So, how was the summer? Long enough?" Dorothy inquired, throwing her arms over their shoulders. Ed shook her head. 

"Ed needs a longer summer! Ed still had to hack StarCraft network!" Ed answered, cart wheeling down the hall. Ein shook his snout and barked in agreement. Dorothy swore that the two shared a brain between them. Ed cart wheeled back to them and pick up Ein, holding him in her arms. Dorothy remembered when she had meet Sango and Ed during high school. Principal Rosewater despised them because they were always up to something. Graffiti. Locker theft. All sorts of thing. By senior year, they'd cleaned up their act and started acting somewhat sane. Sango Hirakotsu was of Japanese heritage and small, blue eyes and long black hair. She was slim, but wore baggy clothing anyway. This was her second year here at Paradigm. Ed was a short with flaming orange hair that was flayed about. She was thin and very flexible. Not only that, she had her one hacking system worked almost every time. Blizzard had been hacked by her many times before, but they'd set up a personal barrier. She always wore baggy things as well, holding it up with a large belt. It was so baggy, though, that the knees of her pants would flop down over her feet. It looked very odd, but Sango was confident she'd grow into them one day. She said that 3 years ago. 

"Sango? How was your summer?" Dorothy asked, stopping for a moment. Sango heaved a sigh. 

"Helping Inuyasha deal with Kikyou's death isn't very fun..." Sango answered, sighing again. Dorothy let out a gasp. 

"You mean, Kikyou's dead?" 

"Yea, slit her wrists. Never liked her much so it was very difficult to talk with Inuyasha." 

"I never did either. Inuyasha never knew it but she was such a slut!" 

"Probably slit her wrists to get away from her pimps!" 

Dorothy and Sango laughed for a while before turning their attention back to Inuyasha. He'd loved her a lot and for her to be dead. Wow. Poor guy. Sango gnawed on her lip. 

"I think we should play matchmakers again." Sango whispered. Dorothy rolled her eyes. 

"How many times has she said that, Ed?" Dorothy asked, glancing over at Ed, who was doing a headstand. 

"458.9 times!" Ed answered in a singsong tone, flipping over. Ein barked. 

". 9?" 

"Yes!" 

Sango raised an eyebrow. Dorothy shrugged. 

"Whatever..." they said together. Ed giggled and flipped back into her headstand. 

"I still think we should." Sango said, thinking out loud. Dorothy's eyes suddenly widened. 

"Hmm... Oh! I need to ask Kagome something really quick!" she said, darting down the hall and skidding to a halt when she was the familiar raven-haired girl. 

"Kag! Yo!" she said, racing over to her. Kagome looked up from her book and smiled. 

"Hey there, Doro!" Kagome said. Kagome was the friendly goth girl (A/N: LIKE ME! FWEE!). She wore all black and sometimes sported a cape and top hat. Most people, mainly cheerleaders, said she was a freak of nature. But, blondes are an endangered species, so they should be more worried about themselves. 

Kagome shoved the book into an oversized pocket just in time to be tackled by Dorothy. She was obviously happy to see her. 

"You heard about Kikyou, right?" Dorothy said quietly, getting to her feet. 

"Of course. I'm her sister AND you know how fast things fly in this school!" Kagome laughed and began to speak again. "Teddy? Don't tell anyone, but I love you the bestest!!" 

Dorothy smirked, but then it faded into a frown again. 

"But what about Inu?" she asked. Kagome nodded. She, too, cared about the well being of Inuyasha. Kikyou was her sister, though she had been a snob and incredibly annoying. Kagome had gotten over her death quiet well. A bound hadn't really grown between when their father died. Kagome and Kikyou were 2 years apart, but many people thought of them as twins. 

"I don't know about Inuyasha. How'd he take it? I haven't seen him all summer." Kagome questioned, smiling grimly. 

"And you think I should know? He hasn't even looked at me since last year's dance!" 

"Whoa, there! Don't bite my head off!" 

"Excuse me..." 

Both head turned to see the same boy that Dorothy had run into in the halls. Dorothy's eyes widened at this realization, as did the boy's. 

"It's you!" they both exclaimed at the same time. Both also turned away and blushed. Kagome, thoroughly confused by all of this prodded their shoulder and made them turn around. 

"Well, hi! I'm Kagome Higurashi!" Kagome said, taking the boy's hand and shaking it hard. The boy nodded, attempting to pull him hand from her death grip as she went on talking about something completely incoherent. Dorothy then tapped Kagome's shoulder and pointed at the boy's now purple finger. 

"Oh! Sorry! I hope you don't have to get those removed!" she said, bowing and apologizing many, many times. Then, Dorothy stretched out one pale hand. 

"Sorry about waking you up with the screaming. I'm R. Dorothy Wayneright," she said, shaking his other hand with hers gently. The boy smiled. 

"I'm Roger. Roger Smith. I just transferred here so I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing," he said, dropping her hand and fumbling to grab his schedule from his pocket. Dorothy looked around to see if Kagome had wandered off and saw her exchanging friendly greeting with Miroku. Miroku was tall and had black hair, tied into a short ponytail on the back of his neck. He was wearing tight, red shirt that read "Skateboarding Is Not A Crime Unless Someone Kills You With A Skateboard". He also wore extremely baggy jeans. He was tall, but was about to be a lot shorter.

"YOU PERVERT!!!" she screeched, pile driving him. Miroku lie in a little pile on the ground. Kagome had begun to walk off when she stopped, exchanging greeting with a silver-haired boy with what looked like horns. Inuyasha. He was tall with flowing white-ish silver-ish hair and amber eyes. He had two pointed, grey ears perched on the top of his head, which attracted a lot of attention during conversation. He was sported baggy black carpenter jeans and white jersey. He looked quite content over there with Kagome.

"Ms. Wayneright? Hello? Come in Ms. Wayneright. Do you read? Over!" Roger said, cupping his hands around his mouth for a better effect. Dorothy turned back, her face flushing again. 

"Sorry!" she apologized, taking his schedule and looking it over carefully. "And please, call me Dorothy. It's not like I'm a professer or nothing." She stuck out her tongue in distaste before turning back to his schedule. Art. History of Law. Biology. Music. Literature. She was with him in three classes: Art, Music, and Literature. The rest she didn't much care for. 

"We have three classes together and the first one starts in..." Dorothy glanced at her watch. "...10 minutes. We're fine." 

Roger heaved a sigh of relief; glad he wasn't missing anything important. 

"C'mon! Let me give you the GRAND TOUR LA RESISTANCE!" she said, grabbing his arm. Roger blushed. 

"Do you even know what that means?" 

"Hell no! But, I love the phrase anyway! First things first. I have to introduce you to a view intervals that can give you a hand if I'm not around." 

They walked through the crowds of students toward the end of the hallways, where Sango and Ed were. Sango looked up when she saw Dorothy and Roger. But, the she smirked. Dorothy was confused for a minute before someone grabbed her ass. She shrieked and turned around, kicking whomever it was square in his face. Miroku stumbled back. 

"You do that again, Miroku, YOU'RE ASKING FOR IT!" she yelled, making heads turn. Miroku smirked. Behind him were Kagome and Inuyasha, keeling over with laughter. Dorothy glared at both of them before smirking and walking up to Inuyasha and hugging him. 

"Glad to see you're feeling better, Inu!" she said, hugging him tight. Inuyasha smiled and embraced her, too. 

"I wouldn't even be here if I didn't have such good friends to look forward to!" he said, his voice lacking it's usual gruffness. Everyone around him, besides Roger went 'Awww' and they all started laughing. Roger was to damn confused to care anymore. He started to walk off, but Dorothy grabbed his arm. 

"Everyone! This is Roger Smith. He's new here but he's not as stuck up as some of the newcomers." she said, throwing him into the middle of the ring of friends. Roger began to sweat. 

"Um, hi." he muttered. He hadn't been this socially active since he was in 3rd grade. 

"I'm Inuyasha Tetsusaiga, brave adventurer of the Amazon!" Inuyasha muttered, looking brave and handsome. 

"LIAR! I'm Miroku Kazana, brave lecher of the Amazon!" Miroku said, looking brave and mischievous. 

"That's so true... I'm Sango Hirakotsu, beater of the brave lechers of the Amazon." Sango muttered, pulling out a ruler. 

"You already met me! FEAR THE KAGOME!!! FEAR HER!" Kagome exclaimed, getting odd looks from everyone. 

"Ed fears Kagome! I am Edward!" Ed said, rolling over to Roger's feet, the corgi on her stomach. "And this is Ein!" 

Ed thrust the dog at Roger and he leapt back. Ein jumped from Ed's grasp and began to circle around Roger's feet, occasionally jumping up on Roger's knees. That's as far as he could go, considering his size. 

"Hey Ed!" called a new voice. Everyone turned to see Spike. Ed jumped to her feet and jumped on him. 

"Big brother!" she said, hugging his frame. Spike attempted to free himself, but it was futile. Roger couldn't help but smile, and then he turned to Dorothy. 

"We should get going," he said, pointing to his watch. Dorothy glanced at her watch and her hair stood stiff. 

"WE'RE LATE! MAKE WAY!" she said, pulling Roger through the hall, a trail of dust following each step. 

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A/N: Don't kill me! *hides in bomb shelter*


	3. College Art Class Is EVUL

Morning Light

By Cait The Bloody Rose

Chapter Three – College Art Class *shudder*

Disclaimer: I don't own these people. But, I'll steal them anyway. THEY CAN'T DO ANYTHING! YOU CAN'T FIND ME! I'M INVISI-*is sacked and dragged away*

A/N: Thank you to all my fans! I love you for saying my crappy ass fics are good!

Sakura Scout: Encouragement is always good. Always good. Yes… MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Briar: _"The blonds are lemmings I swear one runs off the cliff and they all follow."_ No always. Some do, others don't. For example, I have a blonde friend. She is far smarter than I. I don't care and we're best friends anyway. Hee hee. I'm glad that someone agrees with my taste of anime. *impulsive hug*

Moonbeam: I'm not familiar with Sango/Inuyasha pairings. Besides, I like classic pairing! WHEE!

Rocker Baby1: I like Spike and Julia better… Tee hee. Ed and Shippou? … *plots* Mwahahahahaha… *grabs knife and gives to Jack The Ripper voodoo doll* MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-*hack* *cough* *wheeze*

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Roger and Dorothy were zooming down the hall, seeing the door to Art Room begin to close. Dorothy ran a little faster, dragging Roger with her. The door was almost closed when...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" screamed Dorothy, running through the door last minute, but slamming into the wall on the other side of the classroom. Roger had dropped her hand last minute and was now trying to walk in casually. Dorothy was trying to recuperate herself and stood up, dusting of her skirt before taking a seat on the other side of the room. Roger looked around, searching for a seat. He found a seat next to Inuyasha, who looked about just as out of breathe as he was. The teacher began to rant about shadowing and curves and nobody cared enough to listen, so they talked amongst themselves.

"You were late, too?" Roger whispered over at him. He nodded, folding his arm against his chest.

"Yeah. You came here with Dorothy, right?" Inuyasha whispered back. Roger used his head to point over at Dorothy, watching the teacher looking bored out of her mind already.

"Is she always this, err, how can I put this without insulting her way of life..." he asked, thinking about his words.

"Carefree? Insane? Utterly airy?" Inuyasha said, being his personal thesaurus.

"Yeah."

"Not always. She always this friendly toward strangers but she's gets a little more serious once she gets to know y-"

Inuyasha paused; staring at the center of the room, mouth slightly agape. Roger glanced over in the direction in which he was staring, his jaw dropping too. A nude model had just walked into the classroom. He could feel his face heat up.

'_Oh god, oh god, oh god!_'

"Class. You are going to sketch this body using the curves and shadowing we've just introduced. This is just going to let us know how much you understood from the little explanation. If you all do horrendously or the work is inappropriate, then we'll review every detail until you get it right. Are we good?" asked the professor. He was a short, stubby man with a long mustache and a large bald spot on his head. 

"Yes, Mr. Myouga..." the class mumbled.

"Are we cool?"

"Yes, Mr. Myouga..."

"Are we dope?"

"Word."

The professor grinned and left the student to their work for the rest of the period. Roger and Inuyasha were starting to get used to the naked lady in the center of the room, so they pulled out some paper and got to work. Roger always made a sideways glance at Dorothy, whose head was as close as possible to her paper, on occasion looking up at the model, wincing, and getting back to work. All that could be heard was the scratching of pencil, the folding of paper, and the snores of those would had dozed off. Inuyasha was also concentrating hard. Roger looked back to his own picture. He glanced at the model for a moment, and then closed his eyes. He let his hand glide across the sheet. Graceful movements, one after the other. Inuyasha looked up, seeing Roger's eyes closed. He looked over at his paper, his eyes widening.

"Roger! Wow! That's amazing!" he said in a loud whisper, causing Roger's eyes to shoot open. He glanced down at his paper.

"Nah... It's nothing..." Roger murmured. Dorothy had glanced over at the two boys and couldn't help put smile to herself seeing the grin on both of their faces. Then, something sharp hit the back of her neck. She spun around to come face to face with Beck. His friends snickered and he grinned at her slyly. Dorothy rolled her eyes and set back to work.

"C'mon Dorothy! Go out with me!" Beck pleaded.

"I don't plan to even dignify that question with a response." Dorothy muttered, using the side of her pencil to shade something.

"C'mon! Just once! I guarantee you'll love it."

"For what may be the hundredth time, fuck off."

"Is that a yes?"

"That's a hell no."

Beck put on his puppy dog eyes and again began to plead with her. Dorothy smirked and took his hand in hers, crushing it with a widely smile. Beck's mouth opened in a silent scream. Dorothy dropped his hand and got back to work. Beck, behind her, was still displeased. Then, I smirk crossed his lips.

Inuyasha and Roger found Dorothy waiting outside the class when it was finished.

"You two are off to History Of Law, right?" she said, walking down the hall with them.

"Yep." Inuyasha said, cracking his knuckles. Roger nodded, looking down between his feet.

"I guess I'm off then! Later, guys!" Dorothy said cheerfully before running off. Roger stopped and watched her leave, a smiled curling on his lips.

"Pretty, isn't she?" muttered Inuyasha, watching with him. 

"Yeah... I mean-" he started before realizing what he had just said.

"Oh! Too late! You're crushing on Dorothy!" 

"I deny that fact completely..."

"Relight..."

Roger flushed and glared at Inuyasha. Then, there was a scream in the distance. Inuyasha's eyes widened before he set off in a run. Roger followed, trying to keep up best as he could with Inuyasha's speed. Inuyasha and Roger paused at the end of the hall, seeing Dorothy, Sango, and Kagome pinned against the lockers by a group of guys. Dorothy was standing between the girl and the boys, her eyes downcast, shrouded by orange and brown.

"Dorothy! You know you want to! Just do it so the old man lives. Along with your friends here!" yelled a man, clothed in bright yellow from head to toe. His hair was short and a golden, blonde. He had a small goatee the same color. He and 5 five lackeys surrounded the girls. Dorothy muttered something inaudible.

"What did you say, Dor?" the man whispered cupping her cheek.

"Let them GO, BECK!" she screeched, punching the man named Beck hard in the jaw, sending him back into his cronies. Roger and Inuyasha watched in awe.

"_Wow... Badass chick..._" thought Roger walking closer. Inuyasha watched him and soon followed behind.

"Excuse me, boys. But didn't your mother tell you not to pick on young women?" Inuyasha asked, smirking more the closer they got. Beck looked over, along with another man.

"Inuyasha..." muttered the man.

"Naraku..." snarled Inuyasha, glaring toward him. Dorothy looked at the two, showing signs of relief. One of the cronies toppled over onto one of the others. Miroku spun a lead pipe around his head. Kagome and Sango back flipped, kicking two others in the face. Roger looked at Beck, anger dripping from his visage. 

He was going to kick SUCH an ass whooping now...

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A/N: Don't hurt me for ending it right here…

And don't murder me for leaving you on a cliffhanger for more than a week!

I'm on vacation at the beach the 10th through the 17th. Apologies, sports fans!

Later, gang!

-Cait and Mr. Ton-Ton, trying to get the images of From Hell out of their brains-


	4. The Fight and Bisexual Vampires

Morning Light

By Cait The Bloody Rose

Chapter Four – The Fight and Bisexual Vampires

A/N: Gomen, minna-san! I took me a really long time to get this chapter up for three reason!

Love problems New Inuyasha Episodes Finally accepting the fact that school starts tomorrow. 

Pity me. U_U

Thank you for the reviews! I love you, my loyal readers!

~~~~

Beck swung a punch at Roger only for him to deflect it by grabbing his fist.

"Why are you even trying?" he murmured, upper cutting Beck straight in the gut. Beck spat out across the tiled floor and Roger swung again and again. The pain was never ending, each swing making the feeling steadily worse. Beck eventually fell to the floor, twitching every now and then. Dorothy walked over to the crumpled body of Beck, bringing her heel down on his fingers.

"That's what you get, ass!" she muttered loudly, bending over him. Once she stood upright again only to be thrown to the ground. Her vision met the floor for a moment, hearing a resounding smack and numerous curses. Beck's gang was always like this. The members picking fights, each one having a worse reputation than the last. Except for one. He was stupid and green. Vicious, Legato, Naraku, Knives, and Jaken. Vicious had short gray hair and wore nothing but black. Legato had short violet hair that curling into his neck just above his shoulders and had humongous shoulder pads that were exaggerated as the size of baseballs. Naraku had wispy, black hair that went down to mid back with a very slumping posture. Knives had spiky blonde hair and wore all red most of the time. Jaken was about as high as their knees, his upper lip sticking out oddly and he was bald. He was once mistaken for Professor Myouga. Inuyasha was stilling fighting it out with Naraku and Roger and just intercepted Legato. Spike had shown up and Vicious had already pinned him to a wall. Jaken had run off and Knives and going after Miroku. It was an all out war zone in the hallways. Dorothy crawled to a standing position and glanced over at Inuyasha who was being punched in the gut with Kagome on his back, whispering something they made Kagome turn away, her grip tightening and Inuyasha wince more.

"You're the reason Kikyo's gone, Kagome." he had murmured. Before Dorothy could give Naraku a piece of her mind, a wrist groped her ankle.

"Do-rothy..." he spoke quietly. Dorothy turned down at Beck and picked up her foot unburdened, brought its heel down hard on his fingers again, then again, kicked him in the head, and pushed him across the tile. Roger had just finished knocking out Legato before he turned to look over at Dorothy. She was obviously taking care of herself.

Before long, all the members of Beck's posse lie on the ground, moaning and groaning in agony.

"I'm surprised we didn't attract a crowd." Roger said to himself.

"Nobody here really cares. They know we can take care of ourselves." Sango said, stretched. Kagome stood chin to her chest, her face still red and tears brimming in her eyes. Inuyasha was with her, trying to give her what little comfort he could supply.

"You didn't cause Kikyo's death... You know that. You just choose not to believe it." Dorothy said, kneeling next to her and massaging the back of Kagome's hand. Inuyasha nodded, hushing the few sobs that had escaped her. Dorothy smiled slightly before standing up again and walking about.

"Is everybody okay?" she asked, obviously concerned. She glanced at Roger, her eyes widening in alarm. She put a finger under his bottom lip, smearing away the substance there and showing it Roger. Blood. Roger was surprised as well, not even noticing his own injuries.

"I'll be fine. Don't give it second thought." he replied, the taste of blood developing on his tongue. Dorothy looks skeptical for a moment then nodded, smiling weakly.

"I might not trust you yet, but that seemed sincere enough," she stated, her smile fading.

"And I do not doubt that sincerity, Ms. Wayneright."

"Then we are at an agreement?"

"Where's your British accent?"

"I felt it in my other pair of trousers, by George."

The two paused, began snickering, and then broke into a full-blown laugh. Everyone around them thought the sight was quiet the odd. 

"Nah, you're alright, Roger... And please." she spun around and glanced at him. "Call me Dorothy!"

With a grin, she strode off down the hall, her arm over Kagome's shoulder and Sand Ed walking silently besides her.

"She is something, eh?" Inuyasha said into his ear. 

"How she can support her friends in such a manner after a fight like that. Even with silence, she provides them with the time to think. She's one of a kind, that she is."

Inuyasha nodded beside him, staring down the hall. 

"I don't think we've been properly introduced." said a voice behind Roger which made him whirl around to see a hand in front of him.

"I'm Spike Spiegel. Ed is my little sister." Spike announced, smiling slightly.

"Oh. I'm Roger. Roger Smith. I just transferred here. Now. I think we missed our next class. And I forgot to eat breakfast-" Roger started, a grin curving on his lips as he shook his hand briefly.

"Now you're talking!" Miroku said, throwing an arm over his shoulder. Inuyasha laughed.

"And I thought I was hungry all the time!" Inuyasha barked and hit Miroku softly on the shoulder.

"To the cafe!" they all said, marching down the hallway.

"What do guys want to do for the rest of the period?" Sango asked, still kind of quiet. Kagome shrugged.

"I think I'll go the library. Read some Anne Rice for awhile." she said, Dorothy's arm dropping from her shoulder.

"Bisexual vampires again? Where do you get off, Kag?" Dorothy said with a laugh. Kagome smiled warmly.

"Oh, shut up Doro..."

"Oh, I'll shut up when I damn good and ready!"

"Dorothy..."

"Fine... You can go and read for a while. I think the girls and I are going to get something to snack on."

"Fine. But if you get bloated with cookies again, it'll be your fault."

A/N: See the little button down there? PLEASE CLICK IT! REVIEW REVIEW! YES! REVIEW!

*does review dance*


	5. Thinking About Her

Morning Light

By Cait The Bloody Rose

Chapter Five – Thinking About Her

Disclaimer: I, uh, DO own it…

*is mauled by law ninjas*

A/N: Sorry I've been taking so long to update. Think about it this way: I had to take notes for eight chapters in my biology textbook, write an essay on why convicts should or shouldn't be able to vote, finish up some stuff on probability, and do a paper lab. Pity me. 

In other stories, I'm going to start dedicating chapters, so beware. Especially to my, er… *scratches the back of her head* Well, he's not really my boyfriend, but he sure as hell wants and acts like he is. Robert kicks ass. I love him. Yeah. 

Now, to respond to reviews!

**Kenshin:** Haiyaku means "Come on". The only reason I know that was from fooling around in the PSX Inuyasha fighting game. Don't ask. It's addicting.

**Critara's Pride:** You're WAITING?! *faints*

**Sakura Scout:** … You poor, poor soul…

**Briar:** I thought jigoku was "Hell". Oh well. Whateveraga. Well, "Hell Boy" shall be explained. Promise!

**Blooknaburg:** Kerplunk?

**Tenshi Bunny:** I musted continue… Ed… Yeah… *cough* _

**yamiaibou:** Yes, it IS pretty weird, isn't it? ^_^

**Tangled puppet:** *cowers* DO NOT HURT ME, EMINENT ONE!

**kikimohori:** Gothic peoplums and punks peoplums are my friends, so, yeah. I'm a punk myself so I found it necessary to put them in. 

~~~~

The cafe was pretty empty that morning. Well, duh, everyone was still in 

class except for a chosen few. Inuyasha, Miroku, Spike, and Roger wandered in, claiming they were studying. They sat down at one of the large tables that most students had used for studying, _which was covered with_ covered with brown spot where coffee had past spilled and small notes that bleed through the notebook paper. Soon, a waitress walked up, obviously pissed off at the world. And they say good help is hard to find!She had short purple hair and, wore a tight-fitting uniform that made her want to hurt something and she had her left eyebrow pierced. She didn't bother to look up from her notepad.

"What would you guys like to start off" she said, her voice in a bored monotone as if

she had done this everyday for her entire life.

"Oh, stop acting so depressed, Faye." Inuyasha grumbled. Faye looked up from her notepad.

"Oh! Sorry. I didn't realize it was you guys! The usual?" she asked, already jotting things down as she looked around at their answering nods. Her pen slowed as her eyes landed on Roger.

"I see you found a new playmate..." Faye said with an edge to her voice_. _Roger gulped.

"He's Roger. One of Dorothy's new friends." Miroku recalled, leaning back in 

his chair.

"Playmate?!"

Everyone turned around to see Dorothy glaring daggers at Faye in the doorway. Ed and Sango, stood cowering behind her. Everyone turned to her. Sensing trouble brewing, Roger QUICKLY told Faye what he wanted so she could run of as soon as possible. Dorothy stalked over, talking a seat next to Inuyasha.

"Well?" Inuyasha asked, sounding slightly annoyed. Dorothy raised a questioning eyebrow.

"How is she?" he asked impatiently.

"...I guess she'll be alright, but she needs sometime to think. Off to read Queened to the Damned!" Dorothy said, as cheerfully as she could muster.

"It's really not her fault. If anything, it's Kikyo's because she was so cruel... She should know that." Inuyasha said quietly. Sango and Ed had taken this time to sit opposite of Dorothy.

"By now you think I would..."

All head turned to Kagome, smiling grimly in the doorway, her tears renewed.

"Inuyasha. Could you come with me?" she asked, her voice shaking. Inuyasha practically overturned his chair in his haste, rushing over to her.

"Kagome..." he whispered. Kagome shook her head.

"Not here." she said, taking his hand absent-mindedly and both of them proceeded out the door. Dorothy sighed and buried her head in her folded arms that now rested on the table.

"It must be nice to have somebody..." she murmured. Roger took this time to think. About Kagome. Who was this Kikyo everyone was talking about? Why did it concern Inuyasha? What was going on between them anyway? Before he could asked, Dorothy rose from her seat, her eyes shrouded by the hair in her face.

"I'm going somewhere... I'll see you guys next period, I guess." she said, wandering out the door. Sango and Ed looked at her retreating back, with a pained expression. Everyone else looked uneasy.

"Is there something I should know?" Roger finally said, breaking the tension. Sango heaved a sigh.

"Sorry that we've left you in the dark for so long. Dorothy and Kagome have some... Family issues." she explained, pausing between words.

"You see, they've been friends for as long as they both can remember because 

they could relate to each other. You see, Kagome's father died when she was 

three years old and Dorothy didn't have parents to begin with. Kagome had to 

live in the shadow of her sister, Kikyo, who was cruel_,_ and Inuyasha used to 

be in love with her. When Kikyou fell for another guy, namely Naraku,

Inuyasha was crushed." Miroku followed up. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Then Inuyasha became suicidal, his attempts becoming worse each day. One day, Inuyasha went over to Kikyo's home and confessed his feelings for her, only for her to walk out on him. Inuyasha slit his wrists without knowing that Kagome was watching him. She saved his life." Sango finished. Ed nodded, the flame colored 

hair bouncing on her shoulders.

"Dorothy hasn't really talked about her problems very much. Ed doesn't think she likes the subject..." Ed said, grimancing. Roger blinked, taking in all of this information. He still felt clueless. These people were being so nice and telling him these things. Faye began to walk toward them, balancing five or so plates.

"Faye-Faye!" Ed exclaimed. Faye heaved as sigh and unloaded the plates. Once freed of the burden, she went to get Sango and Ed their usual meal-of-choice. Everyone ate in silence, heads hung, and the only sound heard was the sound of silverware against ceramic. Roger didn't eat, but pushed it away, sitting back in his chair.

"I think I forgot something...." he said, standing up from the table."Could you finish it off Ed?"

Ed only reply was an understanding smile and she switched her empty plate for his. He nodded back, his face expressionless.

"I guess I"ll see you guys next period."

And with that he was gone.

"He seems exceptionally distant." Miroku muttered. Sango and Spike nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure he knows what he's doing. He is new here. He has a lot of adjusting to do, after all." Spike replied, cutting what was left of his omelet in half. Sango's head still hung, her eyes downcast.

"Sango-"

"I'm worried about Dorothy, Miroku... She has been through a lot this past week." Sango finally said, somewhat harshly. "I didn't feel it right to explain about that. That's for Dorothy to share and Dorothy alone."

Miroku nodded, nibbling on his last piece of toast, but his hand wandered to the beatuiful woman sitting next to him.

" PERVERT!"

There was a crash and Miroku's chair was overturned. Sango was just about to pop a blood vessel.

Elsewhere, Dorothy was in her dorm, with Pero in her lap. A sigh escaped her lips.

"What am I going to do, Pero?" she muttered, petting the ashen-colored haired of her cat. Pero mewled in response. Dorothy sighed again, then stood up, Pero landing gracefully at her feet.

'_Maybe I should've stayed in bed today..._' she thought. She glanced over at the piano. No wonder she didn't feel like playing this morning. But a sudden thought crossed her mind and she suddenly felt drawn to it. She sat down at the oak bench, looking at the keys again. She sighed again before bending her wrists as her hands rose to the keys, setting themselves in position before she pressed ever so slightly on the keys. A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton.

"_Making my way down town, walking fast, faces pass and I'm home bound._" she sung as she fingers danced along the keys. "_Staring blankly ahead, just making my way. Making my through the crowd._"

She imagined the supporting symphony behind her, smiling to herself as she sung.

"_And I need you. And I miss you. And now I wonder... If I could fall into the sky do you think time would pass me by? 'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just... See you... Tonight_."

She smiled, stopping to think of the lyrics. Her imaginary bands faded away into nothingness in her mind she began to play again. This was the only pass time that made her feel better about herself.

Elsewhere, Roger sat on the bed in his dorm room, the acoustic guitar in his lap. He couldnâ', for the life of him, think of a song to play. He was wondering about any Staind, but nothing came to mind. He just sat there, pondering everything that had happened this first day. Dorothy. Kagome. Sango. Spike. Faye. Ed. Inuyasha. Miroku. Beck. Naraku. These names had been the things going through his mind. Trying to figure out these people was one of the most complicated things that had through his mind.

'_Kagome is the nice, gothic girl. Inuyasha is a nice guy who was protective of his friends. Sango and Ed are two strange young women that enjoyed conversing politic, he had noticed. Miroku and Spike are Inuyasha's best friends, concidering how friendly they are with each other. Faye was part of the group until she got a job. Beck and Naraku are these people's sworn enemy. Who am I leaving out?_' he thought worriedly. Orange and brown flashed in his mind. Dorothy! He still hadn't been able to consider her anymore than a lunatic that hid her emotions. That's all he could make of her.

'_There's so much I still don't know... I'm so confused..._' he thought, 

putting the acoustic back in the open case at his feet. He leaned back onto his bed and closed his eyes.

These thoughts could wait until later.

~~~~

A/N: Okay, you people keep me up too late. It's 11:48 pm. I have been data drained. Oop ack, I'm going to bed.

-Cait


	6. Author Note

Dear Fans and Friends of Morning Light,

Cait here! I'm just letting you all know right now about how things are going.

Morning Light will be updated ASAP which might be mid November. I'm just about up to my ascots in homework. DAMN YOU MATHEMATICS AND BIOLOGY! DAMN YOU TO HELL! As much as they _ARE_ interesting, I really could care less… I'm just getting to credits for high school so I can "do better than everyone else". I'm also in the school play, which is Agatha Christie's Witness For The Prosecution. That'll keep me from writing. Line memorization is vital. Then there's my being the 8th grade student representative for the school counsel, which I _MIGHT _have to drop because I'm doing so much anyways. 

All my chapters do have to be edited. If you haven't noticed, I do have typing and grammar errors that I need to fix. I am being the best author I can be! *salutes*

In other stories, they took Inuyasha off CN for the second time, much to my dismay. Actually, it just REALLY pissed me off. CN must die for their misdeed, ne? Well, I appreciate the dictionary check, Briar. Cleared up a few things with my white Japanese-loving friends. They're more psycho than me (surprisingly enough). I've been watching the subbed version of Slayers all afternoon. Eight episodes later, everything goes crazy. I might just include some guest appearances later, including the following animes. And for you drooling fangirls, yes there WILL be Sesshoumaru-sama for all. Rejoice, for all is well in the world of fangirls.

-Rurouni Kenshin

-The Slayers (All of them)

-08th MS Team

-Poke'mon (Mostly bashing)

And here's a sneak of the next chapter!

"Hey Sango! Have you… Caught 'em all?" Miroku asked, sending Ed into mad fits of laughter. The blood vessel in Sango forehead was roughly the diameter of a dime as she finally threw down the game boy and tackling Miroku with a Xena-like warcry. Amused, Spike watched from afar, lighting his cigarette with Inuyasha next to him, crouched on the ground with Kagome.

"Hey everyone…" said Dorothy with a sigh, returning to her group of friends. Inuyasha's ears perked up and he spun around.

"Welcome back," he said with his usual cocky grin. Dorothy flashed a convincing smile at him in return, but paused when she saw Kagome in his arms. She laughed curtly. Everyone else looked over at the faces of Kagome and Inuyasha, who shot at least 6 feet apart at this.

"Where's Roger, Doro?" Spike asked, putting his cigarette out on the side of the wall. Dorothy raised a hand to respond, but it slowly dropped it, looking extremely concerned.

"I thought he was with you!" she answered.

"Ed saw him!" said the red headed child watching Miroku and Sango wrestle. "He had a guitar case with him and a broken bottle."

Everyone in the room stiffened.

-

That's all you're getting' you greedy bastards!

More Slayers for me.

NONE FOR YOU!

FFX-2 is on the horizon. I'm hyped. Later.

-Cait The Bloody Rose


	7. Danger, Thy Name Is Angel

Morning Light

By Cait The Bloody Rose

Chapter Six - Danger, Thy Name Is Angel

Disclaimer: *still in body cast from saying she owned Inuyasha*

*Law ninja giggle like schoolgirls*

AN: You all like this? I'm surprised. Thanks you ALL! This post is late. Feel FREE to flame me for my late-ness... Of... Late... And... Well, whateva! We shall have a few guest appearances. See if YOU can find them all! And name the anime! And I might just send the first reviewer to say it something SPECIAL! But don't count on it... On to answering the reviews!

**Omae-o-korosu sorcereress:** You're putting me on the favorite already?! HOLY CRAP! Thank you! *sob*

**Boogiepop:** Thanks for your support! I really appreciate it! You're writing isn't half bad either! Actually, IT ROCKS!

**kiki mihori:** Your prayers for Norman have been answered!

**chibilinnet:** I LOVE YOU, MAN!

~~~~

Roger traveled down the hallway with his guitar case in hand and broken bottle in the other. People on campus we're so wasteful! Maybe he could earn a couple bucks if he played down by the coffee house. On the other hand, he was dreafully sleepy after staying up so late last night. 

(A/N: He was probably watching Pride and Prejudice... An extremely good 5-hour movie! *smile smile*)

He turned the corner and walked slowly down the metal grating stairs. He was always paranoid that they'd break by the way some students walked on it. Or by the weight of some student who walked on it. Still, it held up. Good old staircase. Having said that, he was immediately halted with one of the stairs broke under his foot and left a hole in which his leg got caught. Like any normal person, Roger began a long, LOUD string on nonsensical curses while trying to remove his leg. This was all halted when a girl walked up behind him.

"Like, excuse me!" she said, shoving him aside and walking down. Her blonde hair bounced behind her and through the back of her halter top, he noticed two identical scars on her back. It looked like two wings were cut from her back a long time ago. Realizing he was staring, he turned back to his now bleeding leg that needed much more attention than some anger bitch. The broken metal tore at his leg, but he managed to pull it out with some effort of twisting and cursing. The air stung the area, but he'd manage. He hoped as much. He stood up and walked off, unknown to his that a certain red head watched him leave.

Dorothy pushed the lid over the piano keys and stood up, Pero flailing wildly before landing gracefully on his feet. She had started to play Adieu when she heard the great string of naughty words flow in through the screened window. She opened her door ever so slightly, and then she became curious. She unlinked the door and wandered down the hallway until she saw the back of Roger's head. She gasped slightly, spun around and ran into someone. 

"Excuse m-" she paused looking up. Blonde hair poured over her shoulders and her black eyes burned into brown ones. It was Angel, only the richest, snootiest, stupid person Dorothy had ever met.

"Wayneright... How dare you..." Angel said, venom dripping on every word. Dorothy could only smile. She had power, but not the brains to wield it properly.

"Hey there Angel! Your proctologist called... They found your head." Dorothy said, creeping back into her room and locking the door before Angel even comprehended what she had said. She giggled to herself, thinking about how dense that girl was. 

(A/N: Ton-Ton and I would like to make a special announcement that this has nothing against blondes at all. We just think Angel is the stupidest slut with the correct gentiles. Onward!)

Dorothy, after seeing Angel was long gone, deserted her room and went to join her friends at the coffee house. Seeing Roger's head still on the stairs she decided the other staircase would be a better choice. She stopped at the head on the stairs and looked over the railing to the ground below, and then she scuttled down the stairs, broke into a run, and smashed into the wall at the end of the stairs. Whoever put that there deserved to be shot. 

"Hey Sango! Have you… Caught 'em all?" Miroku asked, sending Ed into mad fits of laughter. The blood vessel in Sango forehead was roughly the diameter of a dime as she finally threw down the game boy and tackling Miroku with a Xena-like war cry. Amused, Spike watched from afar, lighting his cigarette with Inuyasha next to him, crouched on the ground with Kagome.

"Hey everyone…" said Dorothy with a sigh, returning to her group of friends. Inuyasha's ears perked up and he spun around.

"Welcome back," he said with his usual cocky grin. Dorothy flashed a convincing smile at him in return, but paused when she saw Kagome in his arms. She laughed curtly. Everyone else looked over at the faces of Kagome and Inuyasha, who shot at least six feet apart at this.

"Where's Roger, Doro?" Spike asked, putting his cigarette out on the side of the wall. Dorothy raised a hand to respond, but it slowly dropped it, looking extremely concerned.

"I thought he was with you!" she answered.

"Ed saw him!" said the red headed child watching Miroku and Sango wrestle. "He had a guitar case with him and a broken bottle."

Everyone in the room stiffened.

"What?!" everyone exclaimed.

"He didn't say anything, but his leg was bleeding..."

"Bleeding?!"

"Yeah, and he had a guitar case..."

"Guitar case?!" Dorothy asked. _'He plays guitar? Oh, how cool!'_ she thought, the imaginary jam sessions playing in her head. Everyone just looked at her oddly, before turning back to the situation at hand. 

"We don't know much about him, but he must be in some serious trouble! I think Inuyasha, Spike, and I should go find him." Miroku suggested.

"How sexist..." Sango muttered. Ed and Dorothy snickered and looked at the men all dewy eyed.

"Would you _really_ do it for us?" they both said in their best mock DID voices.

(A/N: DID stands for Damsel In Distress.)

Inuyasha and Spike heaved a sigh and tugged Miroku back down with them. Sometimes he was such a ladies man. Sometimes? All the time! 

"I think Dorothy should go. She does know him best." Kagome suggested, barely taking the time to look up from her new book. Dorothy helplessly sputtered for a moment before finally accepting her fate without making a complete sentence.

"I'll go find him... But if I run into Megumi AND Angel, it's your fault." Dorothy said, walking past Kagome. Kagome suppressed laughing. She knew Dorothy enjoyed humiliating them. She stood up and followed Dorothy out of the coffee house, her nose still buried deep within Dark Journey. Upon walking outside they stopped outside the door and turning to someone sitting against the glass wall. 

"That was easy." Dorothy said, looking down at Roger who looked up at them, surprised.

"What're you two doing here?" he inquired, plucking a few chords for the hell of it. Dorothy noticed his leg was bandaged and that said broken glass bottle was missing.

"Ed said you had a glass bottle. Everyone thought you were going to do something drastic! How little we do know about you!" Dorothy explained quickly, Kagome just nodding ever so often. 

"Me? Do something drastic? Well, you've got a point. Let's go inside." he said with a smirk. Dorothy helped him balance himself on the wall before he stood up straight and limped inside. Once they were inside, Dorothy winced for a moment. 

"Could you excuse me everyone... I have a headache... So, I need to... Go..." said Dorothy backing up to the door before shooting out. Roger looked somewhat perplexed as he sat down.

"What was that all about?" he asked. Everyone shrugged.

"She does this a lot... Like at Halloween when she chickened out from going in the Haunted House and just drove home... And like last week when she disappeared for three days... It just happens." Sango answered, nibbling on the corner of her

"So, you don't know then?" Roger asked again. A drop of sweat rolled down Sango's forehead.

"Well, you can have her screen name on AOL Instant Messenger. That's as private as it gets." Inuyasha said, tossing him a pen. Roger pulled up his arm and awaited the name.

"It's Bunnies. Capital. No Space. And. Capital. No Space. Terror. Capital. No Space. There." Inuyasha said, pausing between words to let Roger write it down.

"Alright. Well, I think I'm grab some breakfast and head back-" Roger began, getting up.

"If your leg like that, no chance in hell you'd make it back to the dorm. Let me give you a lift." Spike ordered, standing up. Roger sat back down. 

"I appreciate it. Thanks, Spike." Roger said, a slight tone of disapprovement in his voice.

"Hey Himura!" Spike shouted the back room. There was the sound of cluttering dishes and fast running as a lean young man with bright red hair and deep violet eyes stepped into view. 

"Yes, Mr. Spike?" he mumbled through clenched teeth.

"Get Ed's friend here some breakfast. But take Ken-Ken's time!" Edward said, walking around on her hands.

"At once, Ms. Ed! HEY! SANOSUKE! GET A PASTRY OUT HERE!" The man yelled into the back room.

"SANOSUKE ISN'T IN THIS MORNING, KENSHIN!" a voice yelled back.

"Oh! Good morning Ms. Kaoru! I'll be right there!" said the man known as Kenshin soaring back into the kitchen.

"That was odd..." Roger announced.

"Odd? It's normal here!" Sango said with a laugh.

~~~~

A/N: I'm gonna get a hug for putting things in. Bwaha. I'm really trying to get this all up. So, do I get an E for Effort?


	8. The Typing

Morning Light

By Cait The Bloody Rose

Chapter 7 - The Typing

Disclaimer: I'M FREEEEE-*is attacked by Law ninjas*

*ends up back in hospital*

I don't own anything! GAH!!! *sob*

A/N: I'm still having trouble writing The Lone Musician, for fan of that. This is the only way I could probably let you know. Yes, yes, I could update my profile. Again. But I don't really feel like it. Too lazy. Well, I'm glad people have begun to question the basis of this story. On to answering reviews!****

**Heathe**r: GET IT OFF! AH! I'd rather have Ein be physically fit to live up to his high status in the world of cute, cuddly animals.****

**Silver Eyes Bright**: To answer your question would give away the whole friggin' plot, so... Well, it's a romantic comedy. It's full of angst, romance, humor, suicide, horror movies, candy, and betrayal. So, deal with the suspense!

~~~~

Dorothy snuck back into her room, slammed the door shut and locked it. She pressed her back against the wooden door and slowlyslid down to the floor. Drawing her legs up to her chest, she called softly,"Pero..." The small gray cat wandered up beside her and nuzzled at her knee.

"Pero..." she called again. "What's wrong with me...?"

She suddenly felt sick, her inside twisting violently. She willed herself not to let everything spill outbut the pain caused her to gasp, and tears streamed down her face. Yet through the pain, she stubbornly kept herself from making a sound. Instead, she began to crawl, on her knees to the bookcase. If she could just reach it, she could use it as a brace to lift herself up. 

"I forgot... Again... Didn't I, Pero" she muttered half to herself, half to her cat. She she stumbled into the kitchen and groped for her pillbox. Pero mewled patheticallyat her feet, curling around her ankles. Dorothy practically busted the thing open and took out a small circular pill. She placed it on her tongue and swallowed quickly. With that she fell back down the floor and rolled over onto her stomach, out like a light.

~~~~

After breakfast was finished and taken away, everyone had wandered away 

from the Himura Coffee House except for Roger, Kagome, Inuyasha, and Spike. 

Roger couldn't stand the silence much longer, thoughts wererunning through his 

head of Dorothy. The image of her snowy white face and those warm chocolate 

orbs **- **orbshe could easily get lost in. He sighed dreamily and suddenly found himself to be the object of much curiosity. 

"Roger Smith, what are thinking about?" Spike inquired, scooting a little closer.

"I bet it's Dorothy..." teased Inuyasha. Kagome glared at him and he immediately shut up.

"If only I knew why she keeps disappearing..." Roger sighed. Kagome looked uneasy for a moment and cuddled back into Inuyasha's shirt. She felt so secure when near him. Maybe she was dreaming? Surrounded by some of her best friends who, ironically, were not of the same gender and this new addition into her life. She knew she swore to never say a word. She had known Dorothy too long to break the bonds of trust they had. Eventually, and if Roger asked nicely, Dorothy would tell him. If he lasted here, that is. With all the violence and punks hanging around school, she didn't know how he was going to survive.

"I know! I know! We can go around in a circle and say who we LIKE-LIKE!" Spike teased. Everyone looked at him as if he had sprouted a second head.

(A/N: At this point in time, my beta quoted "Smooth, casanova...")****

Spike looked indignant. 

"I see where I'm not wanted." He immediately ran out of the coffee house as fast as he could, leaving the three staring at where the cloud of dust took him. Kagome shook her head and laughed slightly.

"That's Spike for ya. Well,we should be on our way, Kagome... If we're going to make it back to the dorm with enough time to catch The Iron Giant." Inuyasha purred into Kagome's ear, sending shivers up her spine. He could be so incredibly sexy sometimes. What a jerk.

"It's playing _ALL FUGGIN' DAY_, Inu! We'll be fine..." she muttered back. Inuyasha held her against him for a moment and then abruptlyflung her over his shoulder and jogged out of the coffee house, leaving Roger by himself. All the while, Kagome shrieking and begging to put back down.

"Hey Himura?" he asked almost timidly. Kenshin Himuraappeared by the counter again without much struggle as before.

"Yes, Mr. Smith." Kenshin asked, more politely than he had with Spike almost an hour ago.

"Did Spike give you a tip?" Roger asked, a little louder than before. Kenshin answered with a nod of his head.

"Yes, sir. He did, sir."

Roger stood up and walked to the counter, a darkened expression on his face.He put a $5 bill on the counter and suddenlysmiled.

"Keep it. Thanks for putting up with them." he muttered, headed toward the door.

"Thank you very much, si-"

"It's Roger."

~~~~

Dorothy awoke with a pounding headache. She couldn't see straight and something large**, **fuzzy and gray clouded her vision. Her first thoughts were 'Man, I've gotta start cleaning this place. These dust bunnies are simply getting way out of hand.' before realizing exactly what it was.

"Pero, get off my head..." she muttered. The gray cloud removed itself but she could still barely see anything. She was in her bed. No idea how, but she was. Or she could be hallucinating. Again.

"Hey Dorothy! You awake yet?" someone called from her living room. She recognized it to be Kagome and bolted upright and flung herself out of bed, stumbling into the living room where Kagome sat, cradling a sleeping Inuyasha's head in her lap and sipping a cup of coffee. How cute they both looked**. **

"I knew you were here..." she muttered. Dorothy laughed**, **her vision beginning to clear.

"Where else would I be? ...God, I wish I wasn't so dependent." she said flopping onto the couch, making Inuyasha jump a foot in the air.

"WHOSE THERE!? I'LL MURDER YOU IF YOU EVER-" Catching sight of Dorothy's shocked face, he continued in a calmer tone, "Oh, morning Doro." 

Dorothy gave a slight wave and got upfrom the couch, wandering over to the counter and grabbing two red and white pills, easily recognizable as Tylenol.

(A/N: I do not own Tylenol, but I'm a proud user!)

They easily slid down her throat with the fresh cup of coffee that Kagome had handed her only seconds ago. Unfortunately for her**,** it was HOT coffee.

"OH GOD, IT BURNS!" she screamed, running to the faucet to soak her burning mouth. After that was all well and done with, Dorothy walked back over to the couch and laid her elbows on the top of the backrest.

"How did Sango react?" Dorothy asked, as if expecting the answer.

"Same as always: Rehab this and therapy that. She believes those things could help." Inuyasha said, quietly blowing on his cup of coffee before sipping.

"Yeah. Everyone else still doesn't know." Kagome answered the actual question before it slipped out of Dorothy's mouth. Dorothy heaved a sigh.

"Sango is probably right... I need help." she said sipping her coffee again. "I'll be using the lab top in the other room."

"Geez, Doro, you're _ALWAYS_ using that thing. If you get IMed by CrossOutTheEyes, it's Roger. He bugged the HELL out of me to find out." Inuyasha muttered ruefully. Dorothy shrugged and sat down at the table, turning on her lab top with the strange, loud sound of "SOMEBODY GET THIS FREAKIN' DUCK AWAY FROM ME!", sending Kagome and Inuyasha a good foot in the air. They both looked over at her as if she was crazy and Dorothy couldn't help but smile. She signed onto AIM first thing, as always.

(A/N: AOL would slaughter my family if I said I owned them. For those that aren't aware AIM stands for AOL Instant Messenger. I'm on it... 24/7. But I hate AOL. Sorry but, I do. Get used to it! *smile smile*)

Upon signing on, she instantaneously got an IM from "CrossOutTheEyes". She accepted.

CrossOutTheEyes: Dorothy?

HateHatingHateHaters: Who calls me?

CrossOutTheEyes: Roger Smith. You know, from school?

HateHatingHateHaters: No duh. I was testin' ya.

CrossOutTheEyes: Sure you were. So, 'sup dawg?

HateHatingHateHaters: NEVER AGAIN, ROGER!

CrossOutTheEyes: Oh, fine. I'm just trying to be cool... *sob*

HateHatingHateHaters: Ha ha, pansy!

HateHatingHateHaters: You're a LOSER! Just kidding!

CrossOutTheEyes: About just kidding?

HateHatingHateHaters: Nope. Well, gotta run. You know, I got friends over. We're going to play Monopoly. I GET TO BE THE SHOE! YYYEEESSS!

And with that, Dorothy signed off.

"He's kind of annoying..." she muttered, closing the labtop with an equally loud "I KNOW! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!" that sent Kagome and Inuyasha of another foot in the air.

"WOULD YOU STOP THAT?!" yelled Kagome. Dorothy smiled.

"Nah. Well, whose up for some Christmas DDR?"


	9. The Gift Of Giving

Morning Light 

By Cait The Bloody Rose 

Chapter 8 - The Gift Of Giving 

~~~~ 

"So, are we going caroling tonight? It's Christmas Eve already..." Faye chimed in a little bit of a sing-song tone. Even people like her got excited during the holidays. Dorothy shrugged. 

"I really couldn't care less." she muttered. She crossed her arms on the table and let her head droop onto them, letting her eyes flutter closed. Kagome gave her a hardy hit on the back. 

"Oh c'mon, Dorothy... Try and cheer up for the holidays..." she said quietly, Inuyasha sitting next to her. "If you mean by caroling, Faye, that you want to karaoke..." 

Dorothy's eyes lit up like she had just come downstairs on her first Christmas morning. Kagome saw the immediate change in her stupor and smiled to herself. 

"Yeah, definitely, Kag..." Faye answered, smiling to herself. She was off work for the holidays and Spike was absolutely thrilled about this. Roger had been missing for the past several days. Nobody could find him on campus, so they assumed he went home to spend the holidays with his family. 

"Maybe he's Jewish..." Inuyasha suggested, posing his hand like an elderly scholar. Kagome shook her head. 

"I can usually tell. I don't think so. I know that Spike is Jewish. Hell, he's hiding in this place somewhere as we speak!" Kagome said, shifting her glance from side to side. 

"DAMN YOU, KAGOME HIGURASHI!" yelled Spike from his hiding spot behind a bush. All of the group, minus Dorothy, erupted with laughter. Dorothy kind of smirked and then then let her face fall to its usual indescribable frown. Something always itched inside of Dorothy on Christmas. She always felt so lonely every Christmas. Everyone usually went home to their families. She stayed here. Locked herself into her room with her CD player belting at Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin while she sat on the floor with Pero and their three-foot-high Christmas tree. This year, something just itched. She was almost eager for it to come. So she could pass into the new year. Would this holiday finally leave her unscathed with her terrible memories? Only God knows. 

'I hope I can find Roger...' she thought to herself. She suddenly shot upright. What the hell did she just think? Did she want to find Roger? He was annoying, tall, muscle headed... Cute, nice, kind of shy... WAIT! HOLD THE PHONE! Maybe he was so desperate to make friends with the guys because he never had any friends before? She didn't know if she should pity him or what. Before she came here, to Paradigm, she had know Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, Spike, and Edward. They all had known each other in highschool. They had also known Kikyou. 

"What time is it?" Kagome asked. Faye glanced at her watch. 

"It's time to go." she answered. Kagome hoisted Dorothy out of her thoughts and dragged her to the car. From the snippets of the conversation that she hadn't been spacing out, the boys would meet them there. 

~~~~ 

Roger sat on the stool, adjusting his microphone ever so slightly. His shifted his guitar around his lap for better access. 

"This next song is for the holidays. This is my last song for the afternoon." he said, his voice echoing about the place. He strummed the first few chords and his soft baritone filled the room. 

"_The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top _

_The snow is softly fallin' _

_The air is still within the silence of my room _

_I hear your voice softly callin' _

_If I could only have you near _

_To breathe a sigh or two _

_I would be happy just to hold the hands I love _

_Upon this winter night with you _

_The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead _

_My glass is almost empty _

_I read again between the lines upon the page _

_The words of love you sent me _

_If I could know within my heart _

_That you were lonely too _

_I would be happy just to hold the hands I love _

_Upon this winter night with you _

_The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim _

_The shades of night are liftin' _

_The mornin' light steals across my windowpane _

_Where webs of snow are driftin' _

_If I could only have you near _

_To breathe a sigh or two _

_I would be happy just to hold the hands I love _

_On this winter night with you _

_And to be once again with with you-_" 

Roger paused and looked at the door that clanged open. In walked the only people in town he knew and he was somewhat shocked to see them. Of all the places in town to come, they had to come to the Speakeasy. He decided to finish up the song. 

"-To be once again with with you..." 

He finished the last chord and let his head droop. The place erupted in applause. He shuddered at loudness. He heard someone call his name. He didn't bother to look up. He stood up and put his guitar away in its case. He just wandered off the stage, but was stopped in his tracks. This time he looked up to come face to face with those soft chocolate eyes that belong to only one person. 

"Roger." she said simply. He tried to smile but really couldn't muster up the strength to. She wasn't smiling either, so it wasn't essential. 

"I know I haven't been there long, but... That was really nice. Sad, but nice. You play very well." she murmured, lowering her gaze. She was confident her face was heating up. 

"Um, thank you." he muttered, looking away. There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence. Very uncharacteristic is what they both thought of the other. She finally lifted her gaze up again. His eyes her slightly downcast. She finally worked up the courage to ask. 

"Hey." 

He immediately turned to look at her. She hesitated for a moment. Then opened her mouth to speak. 

"Would you-" they both said in unison. They both flushed at the coincidence. 

"You first." Dorothy said. 

"No, I insist you." he responded. The same uncharacteristic silence flooded between them again. The sides of his mouth twitched upward. She followed suit. 

"Would you like to spend Christmas with... " she began, but her shyness kicked in and her voice caught. 

"With... You?" he finished. She nodded, her mouth still gaping in mid sentence. They both flush a deeper shade of crimson. They was a small pause. 

"Please?" she said, her voice very coy and small. His eyes looked very serious and he was thinking very had about, his smile fading. He looked down. He was reminded of when he was small and he spent Christmas with his grandparents. Grandfather Norman sent him to this school saying this was where he graduated. He came back to reality and looked at Dorothy with a look of shock. 

"Would you really want me to?" he inquired. Dorothy looked away for a moment. 

"Yes." she murmured in that same quiet voice. "I would r-really like to not be... alone this year." 

Roger looked shocked again and but a large hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. 

"Consider it done." he leaned down to whisper in her ear. She froze. Had he said yes? She couldn't really stop herself from giving him a quick hug around the middle. 

"C'mon. Let's go meet the others." he said, beckoning her toward the table in which all of them sat. 

"Welcome back, Dorothy! Hey Roger, nice job up there!" Kagome said, opening the seat next to her for the pair of them. Roger and Dorothy sat down and looked around, noticing Sango, Ed, and Miroku were missing. 

"Ed was asleep. Sango and Miroku are working on the play. Romeo and Juliet this year." Faye said, answering the unasked question. 

"We already signed you guys up." Spike said, answering another question that was floating in Dorothy's mind. "Roger is 2 and Dorothy is 7. They've been randomly drawing number for who goes up so I wouldn't really worry about being drawn anytime so-" 

"NUMBER 7 PLEASE COME TO STAGE!" the booming announcer voice said into the room. Dorothy, in kind of a daze from the loudness, wandered to the stage and picked out her song. She popped her neck from side to side and stepped up to the microphone. She began to sing as the music played in, a sweet tone. It was music to Roger's ears. 

"_I'm sick of always hearing _

_All the sad songs on the radio _

_All day it is there to remind _

_An oversensitive guy that he's lost and alone, yeah..._" 

Dorothy smiled to herself and got lost in song. Her rich soprano filled the room with a sense of calm. Roger just watched as her emotion filled each word. It was unforgettable. 

"_I hate our favorite restaurant, our favorite movie, our favorite show, _

_We would stay up all through the night _

_We would laugh and get high, and never answer the phone... _

_I can't forgive, can't forget _

_Can't give in, what went wrong _

_Cause you said this was right _

_You fucked up my life... _

_I'm sick of always hearing _

_Sappy love songs on the radio _

_This place, it's fucking cursed and it's plagued _

_And I can never escape when my heart it explodes... _

_I can't forgive, can't forget _

_Can't give in, what went wrong _

_Cause you said this was right _

_You fucked up my life..._" 

She bobbed her head as the small solo intermission played in and began to sing quietly as it finished. Kagome couldn't help but feel the small pangs of sadness well up inside. 

"_I'm kicking out fiercely at the world around me _

_What went wrong? _

_I'm kicking out fiercely at the world around me _

_What went wrong... _

_I'm kicking..._" 

The song came to an end and Dorothy smiled to herself. She stood in silence, looking down at the floor in between her feet and the place applauded. She left the stage almost out of breathe. She smiled to the people at her table. Or at least tried to. 

"Why didn't you tell me you were a singer?" whispered Roger to Dorothy upon sitting down. Dorothy flushed. 

"I don't do it very often and this is how I work up the courage to, one day, perform in public." she whispered back. Roger's mouth made an "O" and he half-grinned at her. 

"NUMBER 13 COME TO THE STAGE AT THIS TIME!" the announcer said, leaving everyone rubbing their ears. 

"I'm up." Kagome said, slipping under the table and out from under it to the stage. Dorothy turned to Roger to tell him something about her music career, but found him absent from the table. She pouted for a moment, then realized he'd probably be back later. Little did she know that Roger was getting something very special. 

"Where'd Roger go?" Faye inquired, looking around with growing interesting.

"Dunno. He'll be back." Dorothy muttered back, directing her attention to the stage as Kagome sang along to the tune of This Is The New Shit by Marilyn Manson.

"_Babble babble bitch bitch_

_Rebel rebel party party_

_Sex sex sex and don't forget the "violence"_

_Blah blah blah got your lovey-dovey sad-and-lonely_

_Stick your STUPID SLOGAN in:_

_Everybody sing along!_"

Dorothy always knew Kagome could sing. She was a killer bass player. She could play Seven Nation Army without falter. A very true friend. As Kagome walked off, Dorothy couldn't help but smile to herself. 

"Nice." she said when Kagome arrived back at the table. Kagome looked some what melancholy, but mustered a smile back.

"Thanks." Kagome couldn't stop the small blush that crossed her face. She head was off in space at the moment as number 2 blared across the Speakeasy. Dorothy sighed. She was about the yell that he wasn't available at the moment, but speak of the devil, Roger ran up on stage. The crowd applauded.

"I guess that wasn't my last song after all." he said with a small laugh. The song began to play behind him and he paused.

"_As I leave here today, apartment 108_

_I'll always keep you in my heart._

_Anderson is cold tonight,_

_The leaves are scattered on the ground._

_I miss the seasons,_

_And the comfort of your smile._

_Sometimes this all feels like a dream._

_I'm waiting for someone to just wake me up,_

_From this life._

_As I look out at these fairgrounds,_

_I remember how our family split apart._

_I don't think I ever told you,_

_But I know you always did your best._

_And the hard times,_

_They only made us stronger._"

Dorothy knew this song, but she couldn't think of the name. It was on the tip of her tongue. She felt heavy in her chest all of a sudden. She felt like someone had just cut off her air supply and her skin became pale. She noticed Kagome staring at her in a manner that almost seemed unhealthy. Her eyes seemed to say "are you alright?". Dorothy nodded furiously. Kagome practically flew up from her seat and grabbed Dorothy's forearm. Dorothy was yanked from her seat and pulled out the place faster than she could really think. Inuyasha had followed close behind, giving a fast explanation to the others who sat there. Roger had watched all of this play out and paused for a moment.

"I forfeit." he said quickly dropping his place from the microphone and bounding out of the room, following the streak of silver and red.

"Dorothy! Dorothy!" he heard Kagome call. He pushed his leg harder and paused when he saw Dorothy on the ground, her eyes glazed over. He couldn't help but take a sharp intake of breath and Kagome shook her. Inuyasha watched in horror.

"She's-" Kagome gulped, turning to see Roger in the entrance of the alley. "We need to get her home. ASAP."

"Don't you think she needs a doc-" he began, but Kagome's glare silence him. "We can take my car. C'mon." he said, signaling for them to follow. Inuyasha picked up Dorothy in his arms and Kagome followed close behind him. Roger's car was old, black, and looked like it had seen a few years. 

"Get in." Roger said. His voice was much more serious than usual, Kagome had noticed. Inuyasha, Kagome, and an unconscious Dorothy piled into the back.

"Sit down, shut up, and hold on." he said, driving off with a start. Roger seemed unconscious to the speed laws. He didn't slow down until stop lights and obvious places where there were police and people crossing the street. Otherwise, he got them back in under 10 minutes.

"Thanks, Rog." Kagome said, rushing up the rickety metal staircase with Inuyasha climbing up with Dorothy. Roger watched them disappear upstairs, his head pounding in his ears. His eyes burned. He was scared, though he'd never show it.

'_Dorothy..._' his mind whispered. This was the fourth month he had known her. He still barely knew anything about this girl. He could never read her emotions. He could never help when she needed it. Was this how he was supposed to be treated? He frowned and could feel the side of his mouth twitch in something of a snarl. Not only did he frown, but he felt his body burn with unseen rage. He charged up the stairs and founds Dorothy's room within seconds. He heard someone crying from the inside. It didn't stop him from grasping the knob, turning, and throwing open the door. He saw Kagome look up, tears streaming from her eyes like tiny rivers. His anger instantly melted away.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" she screamed, getting up and attempting to push him out. Roger struggled.

"Hold up!" he responded, pushing her bag. "I'm here to help!"

"How could you help her?" she asked no one in particular. Roger's eyes softened and he couldn't really think of anything to say.

"Exactly." she said. "Now leave."

"No."

"Why not?"

Roger looked completely crushed. He looked angry, yet depressed at the same.

"I just want to help her. If you watched someone suffering before your eyes, wouldn't you help them? Even if they pushed you away, attacked you even, wouldn't you?" he muttered, his face turning toward the floor. Kagome, shocked by his words, nodded.

"So doesn't that mean I have the right to help Dorothy?"

Kagome was quiet for a moment. 

"She's in the next room. Close the door behind you. And lock it." she seemed almost reluctant to tell him. He nodded, patting her shoulder as he walked past. He saw the table littered with pills to his right and the door to his left. He reached for the knob and paused.

'_Is this right?_' he thought. He was torn. His hand shook around the brass knob and he turned it slowly. He gulped as the door opened. He saw Inuyasha kneeling next to Dorothy's bed, Dorothy muttering quietly, her eyes barely open. Roger collapsed onto his knees.

"Roger?" Dorothy's very quiet voice said from her bed.

"Roger took us here, Doro..." Inuyasha said in a comforting manner.

"Come here..." her voice was barely above a whisper. Roger crawled over to the side of her bed. She seemed paler, if possible. Inuyasha decided it was time to exit, looking down at Roger as if to say "take care of her". He nodded and looked at Dorothy's pale features, searching them for an answer. The door closed behind Inuyasha and Roger began to feel the air returning to him. 

"Roger-"

"I'm just glad you're-"

They both paused. Dorothy had closed her eyes, gulping. Roger thought she was in pain and got up to get Inuyasha or Kagome, but Dorothy's hand reached him first.

"Stay." she whispered. He kneeled back down, resting on his knees. He watched her face, her eyes barely open. He couldn't deny it any longer. She was beautiful. He'd known that ever since they'd first met. She was one of the only people he could call a friend. The months had passed so fast. He could only remember the moments he had spent with her. She'd always disappear so suddenly. It was fine, and then everything went wrong. He couldn't play. He could sing, but vaguely remembering how. He just sat and watched Dorothy. She watched him back. She could barely feel the tears streak out from her eye and down her cheek. What she did feel was Roger reaching over and absentmindedly brushing it away with his thumb. His hands were so warm. She gently reached up her fingers and brushed them against the back of his palm. She felt the tears running down her cheeks now. He just watched her, lying there, helpless to do anything. He pulled his hand back, watching her.

"I'm sorry." she said, her voice a little louder than before. "I've left you in the dark this whole time, Roger. It's all so complicated to explain to someone. We've only known each other for a short amount of time. I already feel like I've known you forever..."

"Don't apologize." he muttered. "I don't deserve to know. I'm just here to help, that's all."

He felt like he was lying to himself and her. 

"They're 1000 words I'd just like to say right now. Not just to you, but to everyone. I feel like... I've known you from somewhere. Somewhere I can't remember. It's just unspoken. I can't rememb-"

She broke off in a silent sob. Roger just watched her, his eyes reflecting her pain. 

"Dorothy." he whispered the name. She blinked as the tears stung her eyes, most of them spilling down her face. She closed her eyes in an effort to stop the tears. He brought his hand back to her cheek, fitting his hand around it. She put her fingers upon his hand, his warm skin contrasting with her numb fingers. It felt so comforting just having someone near by. Her comfort level rose with Roger. She couldn't, for the life of her, think why. It was Christmas Eve. 

"Can you stand?" he whispered. She nodded slightly.

"I think..." she answered. His hand left her cheek and she slowly sat up, the metal springs in the bed creaking and screeching. Her body begged her to lie back down, but she wanted to be strong and push herself if she was going to survive. She turn and bent her knee over the side of the bed and stood up, Roger rising with her. She seemed to struggle as she walked to the door, opened it and walked back into the living room. He followed her closely, not wanting her to be hurt more than she obviously was. He saw Kagome and Inuyasha asleep on the couch. The clock in the small kitchen read 10:32 pm. The time had passed more quickly than he had expected. Dorothy sat in a chair by the counter in the kitchen, where she just wept silently. A gray cat curling around the legs on the chair. Was this her only companion through her pain? He stomach churned at the thought. She looked up at him, her face pained. He walked over quickly, her hand instantly intertwining with his. His face involuntarily flushed and he gave it a comforting squeeze. She stood up, disregarding the cat she almost stepped on. 

"Oh!" he said with a start, dropping her hand and fishing into his pocket. Dorothy's face contorted in confusion. He pulled out a small package, wrapped in paper that read 'Happy Fucking Whatever' in cursive handwriting. She couldn't not smile at the small joke. Roger forced it into her hand. 

"Merry Christmas." he whispered. Dorothy stood there and looked at Roger. Pero mewled with joy, curling around Roger's ankle. Dorothy examined the gift for a moment, before carefully opening the paper. There was an elongated rectangular box encased in the paper. She opened it and a necklace with a black chain and a prismatic crystal lying at it's end. Her eyes softened, her tears were forgotten.

"I... Hope you like it." Roger said, barely able to control his stuttering. Dorothy looked up at him and smiled genuinely. She closed the box and put it on the counter. Without much warning, she walked closely to Roger and putting her arms around his neck. Roger blushed, but carefully put his arms around her waist as if her body was made of china.

"I couldn't ask for a better gift, Roger..." was all that she said. 

~~~~

A/N: Happy Holidays and may the new year be fruitful and full of acceptance and love.


	10. The Final Frontier

Morning Light

Chapter 9 – The Final Frontier

Five years after that one Christmas, Dorothy Wayneright was depressed. After the northern hemisphere had been turned into lions during the war, something had kept her unfaltering hatred present in everyone's life. She padded around her den, occasionally bating at some unknown speck of dust. Her temper flared as she recalled how she had gotten there.

Spike and Faye had been killed years before in a freak African safari mishap involving two stuffed rhinoceroses and a sack of unused peanut brittle. The details her foggy, seeing as since she had become a feline, her memories had to be collected and tested by researchers. Dorothy considered why it had all happened as she gnawed on the carcass of a grey mouse. Now in some remote zoo in Brazil, she had little privacy and often had little to nothing to eat, so she took what she was given.

Inuyasha and Kagome had been in the southern hemisphere during the war, touring in Antarctica in search on Inuyasha's lost older brother. His brother was, most certainly, dead, but that didn't stop them from dropping out and falling in with heroin in the Arctic Circle. Dorothy had not heard from them in years. Kagome had stopped writing when the war came. Which brought Dorothy to the war altogether – why it had happened, why they had become lions, why lions at all?

With all of these in mind, Roger sauntered out from the opposite den. He took one look at Dorothy and huffed his way over.

"Hey," he mewled, nosing her ear with his rough muzzle.

"Hey yourself," she growled, shaking her ears and licking her chops. Roger had been with her when the war of lions had taken them to South America. Although, he was still charming, Dorothy was not as interested in procreating and lying in trees as he was.

"So, what's the plan today?" he panted, tongue lagging to one side of his mouth. Dorothy growled and rose on all fours.

"We must get Simba and the other lions together. It's time for a meeting," she roared, yawning extensively. Roger nodded, but before the two could seek cover, an airplane was looming far closer to the ground then they had ever seen before. Its jet engines were flaming, as if the Devil himself had sent it to Earth to slay them. Dorothy and Roger could not so much as glaze in awe at the spectacle before it crashed into the artificial stone den that the Brazilians had constructed for them.

Children cried and mother's reached for their hands to draw them away from the fire, soon extinguished by a local firehouse. Sadly, there were no survivors. The last Northern Singing Lions were consumed in fiery hell.


End file.
